Decision Time for Auburn Coaching Staff

… has been widely anointed as the quarterback of the future. Perhaps that’s a rush to judgment. How about Zeke Pike? He’s 6’5"/220 and happens to be carrying a 3.6 GPA. Rivals rates him as the number 4 rated quarterback in the country.

Looking back, I haven’t seen Trotter be the SEC caliber guy we need at anytime this season. He’s had his moments for sure but they were just that, moments.

Keihl Frazier is obviously not the answer right now either. I don’t think he is as bad as showed Saturday throwing the ball, but he can’t be too much better. I think he was set up to fail Saturday. Trotter couldn’t do anything yet again and the coaches leaned on KF a little too much a little too quickly.

Trotter had some dropped passes for sure, but overall he hesitates too much with his reads, he makes TERRIBLE decisions under pressure (panics), and he stares down receivers almost as worse as KF did in his two INT’s Saturday.

I’ll post more later, but I have been very very disappointed with Trotter’s play. I know we have other issues, but now we know why AU went after Russel Wilson so hard. We had nobody waiting in the wings.

War Eagle! Beat Florida!

The coaches have seen these guys at every practice. They have been putting the QBs in situations where they have to make throws, as well as decisions in check downs and defensive coverages. The fans have only seen what happens during games.

When Frazier plays, it is clear the coaches know the speed of the game puts a lot of stress on the young QB which affects not only his passing ability, but also his decision making. It is one thing to throw a dart. It is another thing to throw a dart when there are two defenders close enough to your receiver to make the play. Plus it takes an experienced eye to SEE the defenders and know which ones are close enough to make a play. Meanwhile you’re being bumrushed by defenders who intend to crush your spine.

Trotter seems to be at a crossroads right now as far as his confidence. Todd went through the same thing in 2009. He’d play pretty good for a few games and then have a melt down. The coaches stayed with Todd, over vociferous pleas for Kodi, and the team went on to a respectable season. We seem to be in a similar QB situation now.

I will trust the coaches to assess their talent and make the best decision.

If they intend to play more Frazier, however, they need to expand his menu of plays. Putting in the option would be a nice addition. Right now they have him running QB draws with an abbreviated option in that he makes one quick defensive check and either keeps or hands off to one of the backs.

We really need to beat Florida. It is a winnable game, but it will take a top effort, not an experiment in progress. That’s what practice is for.

Hey, I am not saying Trotter is the answer. If the coaches think Mosley has his head screwed on tight and would be a better gamble, I’m fine with that. We’re at the point where we have to look at all the options.

You could see that in the Arkansas game when the play was long down the middle. That’s a gamble, desperate really. But we needed a big play and we were going to lose without one so they took the shot. We had no choice.

If they start Trotter and he passes as poorly as he did at Arky, Mosley might get his chance.

The receivers though—aren’t just failing at catching balls; they are not making their blocks. You guys want more lanes open?? Start with the blockedy blocks! Talking about Tight End magic, Lutzie had a miserable day. Uncharacteristic yes, but none of our qb’s are getting into rhythm which affects everyone.

I voted for Mosely. Not that I want to bag on Trotter and not that I don’t have confidence that Frazier can’t learn. BUT, whatever we are doing isn’t working. Adjustments that Trotter is trying to make aren’t working. Frankly, if I were the coaches, I would have an open discussion with the players-compare what they say to game tape and make the decision accordingly. I trust our coaches, even with our seemingly tenuous qb situation.

And Announcers, Cam Newton doesn’t live here anymore. He’s doing awesomesauce things in the NFL. Obviously you try, but you can’t compare anyone to Cam Newton, he’s an awesome freak of nature, and it’s not fair to anyone! Knock it off!!

You know you are overmatched when you get pushed around from the get go and you aren’t competitive during the “talent” portion of the game, which is the 1st Quarter. You scheme, plan and practice for what you see on film. If you are competitive in that portion of the game, it means you have the talent to execute the plan. After that, its about the coaches making adjustments, finding weakeness and calling the right plays…..and hopefully you get execution. I think its pretty clear that we have the guys to compete but once the opposition makes adjustments to our deficiencys on offense, Malzahn doesn’t have an answer.
To me, Trotter is getting worse and worse, and that is because the opposition has the book on him and they know what his tendencies are and he has not or can not adjust. He locks on his primary receiver and waits…..and waits….and waits for him to get open until he throws the ball. I saw several examples of other receivers running wide open and Trotter didn’t even look at them… or can’t see them. I just don’t know if Trotter’s poor field vision can be fixed. With the defense be solidly stacked to stop the run, Trotter should have no trouble finding someone to thow to but he does. Of course to do that you need to put him in situations where he will be successful, having him throw on 2nd and 3rd and long almost guarantees failure. As is, Trotter isn’t a threat to run or throw, and that is killing us.

Mosely is an unknown, but the mere fact he has not seen the field in blow out losses when we have to throw the ball, says volumes.

Frazier has great athletic gifts, and makes the defense respect his ability to run, and not key on OMac or Dyer. That alone makes him a better option than Trotter. I think if he gets his reps in with the receivers and builds some repor with them, I think he could progress quickly, given that he knows the system. He needs to adjust to the speed of the SEC and the only way to do that …..is get experience.

One thing I will say is that I hate the 2 headed QB. I don’t think it is fair to either QB when they are running on and off the field. You can’t afford to have your QB be uncomfortable with his role or they will press…..and I think that is what we are seeing. Trotter knows unless he steps it up, it is a matter of time before Frazier takes over and you can see he is not handling that pressure well. Frazier knows he isn’t being trusted to throw the ball or make decisions, and he is trying not to make mistakes…..which normally leads to mistakes in my experience. One way or the other I think you have to pick a guy and stick with him and hope for the best….but in my opinion Frazier is the guy you have to go with.

Much like Matt Stafford’s freshman year, he was being spoon fed along until it was clear the year was lost and they handed the reigns to the freshman. By the end of the year he was rolling. I think it is time to do that with Frazier. With Trotter, we may be able to pull out a win vs. Florida, but we will have a tough time scoring against LSU. The same could be said of Frazier should he play. The main difference is that Frazier appears to have an upside for the end of the year that Trotter does not possess. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t know if I want to be at this same point in two weeks, with two more losses and without Frazier getting much needed big game experience.

Its better to take the medicine now and hope we get better.

Yes he has struggled but it was easy to see that holding penalties and dropped balls were the difference Saturday.

team needs a spark just to be competitive in 4 of the next 6.
bottom line is…we’re 1/2 way through the season and trotter just isn’t making it happen.

goes without saying we can’t blame him for all of it, but really he hasn’t had a good game for over 1/2 the season. that would be enough for me if i were the coach.

frazier provided a spark at WC QB against SC.

continued to play well in that role against Arky.
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decision 1: keep Frazier as run threat, hand-off/run gimmick to keep Ds wondering.
decision 2: if Mosley is really the #2 QB… I think it is time he get his chance. the time is NOW… do it.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Jaylon Denson and/or CJ Uzomah get snaps at WR this saturday.
Also… in Trovon Reed’s absence… Quan Bray hasn’t done anything. Working the slot would be another option for CJ Uzomah.

I do think that Tre Mason could get worked in for some touches on pass plays out of the backfield. In terms of consistent offensive production… we really only have Dyer, O-Mac, and Frazier running the ball. … and O-Mac catching the ball on screens.

if we can’t get a couple guys to pass and catch a 10-15 yard pass we’re going to have to line up Ladarius Phillips in the backfield every play and try to outman every D we face upfront for 3-3.5 yds / play.

It’s time we start asking ourselves if Roof is capable of coaching in this league. The defense was garbage last year. The only reason people didn’t notice is because our offense simply outscored everybody (Fairley was also a freak of nature). There is no excuse for an Auburn defensive unit to be last or 2nd to last statistically 2 years straight.

I wouldn’t be as adamant about making a change if we didn’t have a legitimate option outside of Roof. However, we do. Remember when Chizik was the defensive coordinator for the 2004 Auburn national champions and the 2005 Texas national champions? Dude knows how to coach defense… I’m actually shocked that he can sit by and watch the defense be as bad as it is for this long. If Roof can’t get the D together, it’s time for Chizik to take over.

For the record, I was much more impressed with the D against Arkansas this past week. However, we’re still nowhere close to where we should be…

but I have watched the game replay twice now and Trotter was only part of the problem in fact let half of the dropped passes be completions and it’s a close game. But with that being said Trotter did try to force alot of balls and through everything with too much zip. It seems as if he’s trying too hard to make a play and I wonder if he’s not looking over his shoulder a little too much with Frazier getting more and more reps…..and while I don’t see Frazier replacing Trotter this season maybe he feels the pressure a little too much. Frazier isn’t ready by a long shot but maybe Moseley is although I would like to see Trotter recover and finish the season strong. I don’t know what the answer is but I hope the coaches get it figured out.

I think what we have here is a situation of un-realistic expectations versus reality.

That being said, it’s obvious we got issues:

The defense isn’t very good when we are in a zone coverage. It’s the same old “let’s make them march the field” mentality we saw in the Clemson game. The good news is that we are getting better. But the reality is with a percision passer, they are going to pick us apart. We are just too wet behind the ears. I don’t see this as Roof’s issue… I see this as a lack of senior issue.

The offense isn’t very good either.

It appears that our QB has trouble eyeballing his receivers from the start…and after the first lick, he get’s a serious case of happy feet. But the good news…. he doesn’t throw many interceptions. It’s obvious – he is the best we got. And during the Arkansas game… he was totally hosed by his receivers not catching the ball – EVEN – when they were hit by them. The one interception he had was due to a 4star (practically non-contributing player) Benton tipping the ball in the air so the DB that was ten yards behind him caught it. Let’s face the bitter fact: our receiving corps without Blake is almost non-existent.

And when we can’t throw the ball…. that means all the opposing defenses have to do is load the box to stop Dyer. Oh… and you can’t forget the sloppy play of our O-line too. Again, my explanation is that we are extremely young.

But with all the folks hammering on Roof… I must say, for the two losses this year… I am not impressed with the coaching by Malzahn either. He has been woefully inadequate.

Arkansas is a tough, tough place to play. It’s a much more difficult place to play than say USC. I’d say to anyone we are just lucky we didn’t get shut out.

On to Florida!

Keeping it positive…. I think we have a darn good chance against them in our own house. We just have to settle down and learn to cope with the issues that are presented. We had chances in the Arkansas game. Again… this is something that comes with time.

Keep Trotter under center. Run the receivers! Take shots! Come out swinging and punch them dead in the mouth.

War Eagle!